VisitLondon signs China tourist deal

The Tourism Administration of Guangzhou Municipality has teamed up with the promotional body to organise exchange visits for staff.

‘We hope to improve mutual understanding of each other's culture and target markets, resulting in an increased number of visitors between the countries,' said a VisitLondon spokesman.

The Asian outbound travel market is growing at a faster rate than that of any other region. However, the number of Chinese visitors to the UK is relatively small (58,000 a year) - the UK is the 16th most popular destination for Chinese tourists.

Mayor Ken Livingstone opened offices in Shanghai and Beijing last year to ‘sell' London to the Chinese.